The story of Anne Frank is one that many in the world are familiar with. Using the famed diary as a template, BA2 Theatre Company use live music, singing and drama in an attempt to encapsulate the world that Anne her family inhabited.
Anne is portrayed with sensitivity and nuance. The innocence as well as petulance, at times, of a young teenage girl are captured very well. Mrs van Daans also stands out, particularly amongst the adult characters, providing the ideal of the grown women Anne wishes to emulate once she has grown up. Whilst these characters stood out the rest of the acting felt stilted and a little wooden. Furthermore there were a couple of the cast who had issues with their projection, both with the volume and also the direction of their sound.
The musical numbers, whilst few and far between, were without a doubt the highlights of the show. The majority of the cast had beautiful tones, creating some especially nice harmonies. A particularly powerful aspect of the staging was that all the characters who were stuck in the attic never left the stage from the moment they willingly entered the annexe to the climactic moment when they are taken away by the green police. A simple touch that really helped to illustrate the idea of living in cramped conditions on top of one another. Another feature that worked nicely was the simple spotlight on stage centre when Anne is writing the famous diary.
Unfortunately, given the worldwide impact of the diary, this is not a show that I believe will blow you away by any means. The acting is fine with a couple of standouts but overall there is barely enough here to hold the audience's attention for the 50 minutes that they ask.
